RECORD OF 
THE MILITARY SERVICE 



OF 



Captain Josepb (3olbtbwait 

ADJUTANT OF PEPPERREL'S REGIMENT 
(FIRST MASS.) 

AT THE SIEGE OF LOUISBURG. 1745 



L' <<7 A? 



CAPTAIN JOSEPH GOLDTHWAIT— ADJUTANT 
OF PEPPERRKlv'S REGIMENT (FIRST 
MASS.) AT THE SIEGE OF I.OUISBURG, 1745. 

By Captain Robert GoLDTHWAiTE Carter, U.S. Army. 

Joseph^ Goldthwait was the son of John and Sarah 
(Hopkins) Goldthwait, of Boston. He was born 
November 11, 1706. He married February, 1727, 
Martha, daughter of Captain PhiUp and Martha 
(Burrill) Lewis. He was a merchant on Marlborough, 
a part of Washington Street. In 1732 he joined the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, his father 
being elected a lieutenant the same year. (His. 
A. H. A. Co.) 

March 10, 1734, he was chosen one of the constables 
of the town; also in 1735. In 1738 he was elected 
First Sergeant of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery 
Company. In 1737 he was a licensed inn-holder of 
Boston, and again, September 10, 1742. In 1743 he 
was appointed Ensign in the regiment of militia of 
which Jacob Wendell was Colonel; William Downe, 
Lieutenant Colonel; Daniel Henchman, Major; and his 
father, John Goldthwait, was Captain. {Boston Evening 
Post, March 7, 1743.) 

March i, 1744, Joseph Goldthwait, shopkeeper, gives 
to Ezekiel Goldthwait all right to estate of mother, 
Martha Lewis, in upper side of Fish Street. He was 
chosen scavenger in 1743, and 1753-63, was appointed 
a sealer of wood, etc. He applied to the Selectmen 
praying that he may be appointed an undertaker 
(contractor), for the sweeping of the chimneys in the 
town. "Voted that he be appointed, etc., provided 



that he give bonds as usual" (pp. 146, 189, 219, Boston 
Records, 1753-63). Then follows certificate by Select- 
men to Joseph Goldthwait with regard to sweeping 
chimneys, etc. 

His children were: 

I. Martha, b. October 6, 1728, d. August 27, 1780. 

II. Joseph, b. October 3, i73o;m. Hannah Bridgham. 
He was Major, Lieut. Colonel, Barrack Master and 
Commissary of the King's Troops in Boston during 
the siege, d. in New York City, October 3, 1779. No 
children. 

III. John, b. December 31, 1731. Commanded a 
man-of-war in 1776 (?). Taken prisoner. 

IV. PhiHp, b. March 20, 1735. Class of 1741, 
Boston Latin School; m. about 1758, Mary, daughter 
of Capt. vSamuel Jordan of Saco. She d. Septem- 
ber 27, 1760, age 24. (2), December 17, 1762, Mrs. 
Abigail Dyer of Bidcford, b. January 8, 1744, d. Feb- 
ruary 22, 1832. He d. about 1786 in England. 4, 
perhaps 5 ch. 

V. Samuel, b. March 20, 1735; m. Amy Burdine of 
Newport, R. I. Lived in Newport and Baltimore, Md. 
Merchant; 5 ch. 

VI. Benjamin, b. August 6, 1737; m. Sally White 
Dawes. Merchant, d. about 1782. 10 ch. 

VII. Martha, b. May 10, 1739; d. March 12, 1741. 

VIII. Michael Burrill, b. January 5, 1741. Sur- 
geon's Mate in Crown Point expedition, 1759-60; also 
with General Howe during siege of Boston, and after 
the evacuation at Halifax, m. (i) Sarah Fornson; 
(2) Abigail Langdon of Portsmouth, N. H., daughter 
of John and Mary (Hall) Langdon, and sister of Gov- 
ernor John Langdon of New Hampshire, i daughter, 
Frances Anne Montrasure. 



HAY -: 16)3 



IX. Sally, b. June 20, 1742; m. Richard Williams, a 
merchant of London, England. Was lost on a voyage 
to Kamschatka. 

XI. Thomas, b. July 19, 1743. 

XII. Martha, b. July 20, 1744; m. Dr. Joseph Gowen 
of Weston, Mass. 11 children. 

Joseph Goldthwait was with the First Louisburg 
expedition, and was commissioned by Governor Shirley 
First Lieutenant and Adjutant of Sir WilHam Pep- 
perrell's regiment (First Mass.), March 12, 1744. He 
was made a Brevet Captain, March 20, 1744. (N. E. 
His. Gen. Reg., vol. 25, p. 253-256.) Louisburg was a 
standing menace to all the northern British colonies. 
It was the only French naval station on the continent, 
and was such a haunt for privateers that it was called 
the "Dunkirk of America." 

The fortifications, commenced in 1720 under Louis 
XV, were under construction for twenty-five years, and 
cost about six million dollars. The main work extended 
a distance of about 1,200 yards; the ditch was 80 feet 
wide and about 36 deep, and the ramparts of earth 
faced with masonry were about 60 feet thick. The 
glacis sloped down to a vast marsh which formed one 
of the best defenses of the place. 

It had, without counting its outworks, embrasures 
for 148 guns, and nearly that number were mounted. 
Its garrison consisted of 560 regular troops, and some 
1,400 militia, and was commanded by Chevalier 
Duchambon. 

The proposal for its capture is ascribed by various 
authors to Gen. Samuel Waldo, Robert Auchmuty, 
Judge of Admiralty in Massachusetts Bay, and Col. 
William Vaughn of Damariscotta, while Pepperrell 
himself states that it originated with Col. John 



4 

Bradstreet. The latter, in a letter written in 1758, 
and now on file in the Public Record Office, London, 
declared that he not only "planned the siege, but was 
the principal person in conducting it." Still another 
author, in a recent address made before the Society of 
Colonial Wars at the dedication of the monument at 
Louisburg (1895), claims that it originated from 
Lieut. -Gov. George Clarke of New York in a letter 
written to the Duke of Newcastle, April 22, 1741 (Col. 
Docs, of N. Y., 6, 183). 

However this may be, when Benjamin Franklin 
heard of it in Philadelphia, he wrote to his brother in 
Boston, "Fortified towns are hard nuts to crack, and 
your teeth are not accustomed to it, but some think 
that forts are as easy to take as snuft'." The 
expedition sailed from Boston, after much opposition, 
March 24-5, 1745, in a fleet of 90 transports convoyed by 
16 Provincial cruisers, the latter under the command 
of Capt. Edward Tyng, and was composed of 4,070 
men: 3,250 from Massachusetts, 304 from New Hamp- 
shire, 516 from Connecticut, and a contingent from 
Rhode Island, which, after disbanding once, and re- 
organizing, arrived after the surrender. 

There were seven Massachusetts regiments, com- 
manded respectively by Gen. William Pepperrell, 
Colonels Samuel Waldo, Jeremiah Moulton, Samuel 
Willard, Robert Hale, Sylvester Richmond, and Shubael 
Gorham. The New Hampshire regiment was com- 
manded by Col. Samuel Moore and the Connecticut 
regiment by Col. William Burr. The Massachusetts 
artillery was under the command of Lieut. -Col. Richard 
Gridley, with Capt. Joseph Dwight as captain of the 
artillery train. Of the Massachusetts contingent, 300 
men were raised and maintained during the siege by the 



generosity of Capt. James Gibson, a merchant of Boston. 

The sarcastic Dr. Douglas of Boston writes that the 
expedition "had a lawyer for contriver, a merchant 
for general, and farmers, fishermen, and mechanics 
for soldiers." 

The fleet was scattered by a fierce gale, and after 
many hardships, on Friday, April 5, 1745, and for 
several days following, it entered Canseau Harbor, 
about fifty miles from Louisburg. Here they lay for 
about three weeks, waiting for the ice, which they had 
met, to break up. During this time the troops were 
landed and drilled, and on Sunday, April 7, Parson 
Moody, the York chaplain, preached from the text: 
"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." 

On the morning of the 29th the fleet sailed for Louis- 
burg, and on the 30th and 31st, after a feint had been 
made on Flat Point as the place of landing, the entire 
command landed at Fresh Water Cove, Gabarus Bay. 
Here they met with some resistance from a small force 
of about 1 20 men under Captain Morpain, commanding 
a privateer, who were soon brushed aside with a loss 
of three wounded, the French losing six. 

That night the troops bivouacked in the woods, but 
the next morning pitched their camps: Willard's, 
Moulton's and Moore's regiments on the east, and 
Burr's and Pepperrell's regiments on the west side of a 
small stream that entered the bay about two miles from 
the town, and on comparatively high ground. 

There were but few tents; old sails, spruce boughs, 
and sod huts were used for shelter, and in many cases 
the men burrowed in the ground by digging holes and 
covering them over with what they could find. 

The landing of the guns, stores, etc., was a most for- 
midable task, and took several days. Large, flat boats 



were used, brought for that purpose; the guns were 
floated, and the loads were carried ashore in the arms 
of the men, they wading up to their waists for this pur- 
pose in the ice-cold surf. 

After this came the almost impossible task of drag- 
ging the guns over the marsh to Green Hill and other 
points beyond, a distance of over two miles. This was 
executed under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Meserve of the New Hampshire regiment, a shipbuilder, 
and a man of wonderfully fertile resources. This was 
mostly done at night or during a thick fog, and fre- 
quently under a sharp fire from the town. 

On May 2, Colonel Vaughn made a reconnaissance 
with 400 men to the northeast arm of the bay, cheering 
the town as he gained the hills, and passing in rear of 
the Grand Battery, destroyed an extensive magazine 
of naval stores, etc. ; upon his return about 9 o'clock, 
upon discovering that the Grand Battery had been aban- 
doned, he occupied it, and reported the fact to General 
Pepperrell. Here a youth of eighteen, one William 
Tufts of Medford, is said to have climbed a flagstafT 
holding in his teeth his red coat, which he made fast 
to the staff as a substitute for a British flag. Colonel 
Waldo was at once placed in command of this work, and 
his regiment under Lieut. -Col. Arthur Noble, and a 
part of the First Massachusetts (Pepperrell's), of which, 
as has been stated, Lieut. Joseph Goldthwait was adju- 
tant, was sent to occupy it. 

In four days a six-gun battery was planted on Green 
Hill, which was about a mile from the King's Bastion 
of Louisburg. In another week another battery was 
planted 600 or 700 yards further on, within easy range 
of the citadel. In the meanwhile a third had been 
completed on a hill but 440 yards from the West Gate. 



These batteries were commanded by Captain Dwight 
of Gridley's artillery train, and supporting them 
were the Sixth Massachusetts under Colonel Richmond 
and the Fifth Massachusetts under Colonel Hale. 
Over against the landing place to the westward was a 
part of the First Massachusetts (Pepperrell's), and the 
Third and Fourth under Colonels Moulton and Willard, 
together with the Connecticut and New Hampshire 
regiments. The Seventh Massachusetts had been sent 
to occupy Light House Point under Colonel Gorham 
with a part of Gridley's artillery train. A fourth bat- 
tery was located opposite the West Gate, and but 250 
yards from it. This was the furthest advanced, and 
Pepperrell placed it in charge of Capt. Joseph Sherburn 
of the New Hampshire regiment. Frequent councils 
were held at headquarters. On May 7 a summons was 
sent to Duchambon to surrender, who replied that he 
would answer with his cannon. Two days after, the 
records on the council show: "Advises unanimously 
that the town of Louisburg be attacked by storm this 
night." 

To have made an assault then, even with the best 
disciplined and best led troops would have been mad- 
ness, and cooler wisdom prevailed. On the 20th of May 
a fifth battery was planted, consisting of guns taken 
from the Grand Battery, and three more added, these 
being dragged by 300 men over rough and rocky ground 
swept by the French artillery. This battery, com- 
manded by Captain Titcomb, proved the most destruc- 
tive. 

Sherburn, to shelter himself, made a breastwork of 
hogsheads filled with earth ; he had but six gunners, and 
all the guns were loaded under a severe fire of musketry 
while the lines were so close that the men on both sides 



8 

exchanged rather doubtful compliments, in bad French 
or broken English, while the French drank ironical 
healths to the hardy New England fishermen, and gave 
them mocking invitations to breakfast. 

The Island Battery was a very strong work walled 
in on all sides, which controlled the main channel, 
here but half a mile wide ; it was garrisoned by 1 80 men 
under command of Captain d'Aillebout, and armed 
with 30 guns and some mortars. 

On the night of May 26, an order having been given 
Lieutenant-Colonel Noble to assault this stronghold, 
volunteers were called for this purpose. One Brooks 
(although his name does not appear on the list of officers) 
and about 300 men in boats started at 12 o'clock, to be 
joined by 100 more from Gorham's regiment at Light 
House Point. They made a very difficult and dangerous 
landing through the surf, but like all night attacks it 
failed for many causes; after making the attack they 
were repulsed with heavy loss in killed, drowned and 
prisoners, the French reporting having captured 189, 
about one half the force. Though unsuccessful. 
Colonel Noble received the official thanks of the general 
and subsequent promotion. 

At daybreak Louisburg rang with shouts of triumph. 
Orders were now given to plant a battery at Light House 
Point, at the distance of a short half-mile. The 
neighboring shore was rocky and almost inaccessible. 
Cannon and mortars were carried in boats to the nearest 
landing place, hauled up a steep cliff, and dragged a 
mile and a quarter to the chosen place, where they were 
planted under the orders of Gridley, who thirty years 
after directed the artillery at Bunker Hill. 

The new battery opened fire with successful results. 
Parkman mentions but one assault on the Island 



Battery, the one just referred to; but other authors say 
that six distinct landings and assaults were made by 
forlorn hopes of volunteers, and that this battery was 
silenced only with the fall of Louisburg. 

Ten additional guns were added to the new battery at 
Light House Point, found in the mud on the flats, where 
the French had concealed them, and shells were thrown 
with such accuracy into the Island Battery that the 
French were frequently seen to drop into the sea to 
escape their explosions, and many of their guns were 
dismounted. 

The West Gate had now been so shattered that the 
French had to close it with a wall of stone and earth 
20 feet thick. An epaulement was made to protect 
what was left of the formidable Circular Battery, all 
but 3 of whose 16 guns had been dismounted, and a 
barricade was thrown across the throat of the Dauphin's 
Bastion; a Cavalier was built on the King's Bastion, 
which was soon knocked down by the Enghsh guns. 
Had Duchambon come out of the citadel when he saw 
that he was beginning to be slowly but surely surrounded, 
and made a determined sortie with his regulars upon 
the untrained militia confronting him, there is little 
doubt but that the result might have been different. 

The French were now in a desperate condition. The 
Island Battery was crippled; the town batteries, com- 
manding the interior of the harbor, were nearly de- 
stroyed; Warren's squadron had been reinforced to 
II ships, besides the Provincial cruisers, fascines had 
been carried to the foot of the glacis, ready to fill the 
ditch, and 100 scaling ladders were reported to be lying 
behind the ridge of the nearest hills to be used in scaling 
the walls when the final charge should be made. Toil, 
loss of sleep, and the stifling air of the casemates, now 



lO 

closely crowded with troops and the citizens who had 
been driven out of the town by the destruction of their 
houses (only one remaining untouched by shot or shell) , 
and the fear of the latter that they would all be put to the 
sword — this was the situation on June 15 when the citi- 
zens brought petition to Duchambon, begging him to 
capitulate. 

Sherburn had frequently referred in his diary to the 
"Hot fire on both sides, till the French were beat from 
all their guns;" to the "dismounting of a 42 pdr through 
bungling; a barrel and a half of powder blowing up, 
killing two men, and injuring two more," and to the 
pleasure of "seeing our Shott Tumble down their walls 
and Flagg Staff," but on this day, the 15th of June, 
he says: "By 12 o'clock we had got all our platforms 
laid, embrazures mended, guns in order, shot in place, 
cartridges ready, dined, gunners quartered, matches 
lighted to return their last favours, when we heard 
their drums beat a parley; and soon appeared a flag of 
truce, which I received midway between our battery and 
their walls, conducted the officer to Green Hill, and 
delivered him to Colonel Richman (Richmond)." 

LaPerelle, the French officer, delivered a note from 
Duchambon to both Pepperrell and Warren for a sus- 
pension of arms. They replied stating that they would 
give him until 8 o'clock the next morning to make his 
proposals. 

When they came, Pepperrell refused to entertain 
them, and sent back Bonaventure, the officer who 
brought them, with counter proposals, which were 
substantially those which Duchambon had rejected on 
May 7, with certain added conditions. 

The French commander accepted these on condition 



II 



that his troops should march out with their arms and 
colors. This was consented to, and, after the articles 
were signed on June 17, Warren's fleet and the Provin- 
cial cruisers sailed into the harbor, while Pepperrell 
with a part of his ragged army entered the town by 
the South Gate. 

Warren visited the camps on the day the flag of truce 
came out; made a speech to the troops, and gave the 
regiment at the Grand Battery a hogshead of rum to 
drink his health. 

Pepperrell received the keys of the city, although this 
has been denied by some historians, but when Governor 
Shirley came shortly after to Louisburg, Pepperrell 
formally presented them to him in presence of the troops. 
He celebrated the victory by a dinner to the commodore 
and his officers, at which Parson Moody, instead of 
uttering a half -hour invocation, said; "Good Lord, we 
have so much to thank thee for, that time will be too short, 
and we must leave it to eternity. Bless our food and 
fellowship upon this joyful oocasion, for the sake of 
Christ, Our Lord, Amen." 

The siege of Louisburg was mainly a conflict of artil- 
lery. There were few experienced gunners, and Pep- 
perrell urged Governor Shirley to supply them early 
in the siege. A few came early from Warren's fleet, 
which was during the entire time rendered inactive by 
the strength and location of the Island Battery, the 
key to the position. 

The total losses of the New Englanders were 130, but 
several hundred died subsequently from their exposure 
and hardships while in garrison, until relieved the fol- 
lowing spring by regulars from Gibraltar. The French 
lost in killed and wounded about 200, and Governor 



12 

Duchambon surrendered 650 regulars, 1,310 militia, 
2,000 inhabitants, besides the Vigilante with her 560 
men captured early in the siege. 

The utter lack of experience of the New England men 
at the outset ; the long, discouraging delay at Canseau ; 
the dangers and difficulties to be overcome at Flat Point 
and Fresh Water Cove; the dreadful strain of hauling 
the guns across the marshes in the depressing gloom of 
darkness and dense fogs; the want of tents, shoes and 
proper clothing; the prevalence of disease, at one time 
over 2,000 men being unfit for duty; the incessant can- 
nonading, night and day, to which they were subjected; 
the heroic assaults and repulses at the Island Battery; 
the long and wearisome duty in the garrison; the rare 
patience, courage, good temper and poor pay (25s. per 
month, or less than 6d. per day, the soldier furnishing 
his own clothes and gun) ; all these tried the souls of 
men unused to war. 

In proof of the excellent discipline displayed by the 
raw soldiers, it is said that but three men deserted during 
the entire siege, and not a man was punished. Dr. 
Douglas compared it to a "Cambridge Commence- 
ment." While the cannon bellowed, the men ran races, 
wrestled, pitched quoits, etc., while some fished in the 
streams near by. These are some of the characteris- 
tic features of the campaign before Louisburg, from 
which the hardy sons of New England emerged as from a 
baptism of fire and suffering, all the nobler as they 
became conscious of their suddenly developed strength. 

The news reached Boston at i o'clock on the morning 
of July 3, by a vessel sent by express. Bells were rung 
and cannon fired, and the streets were soon filled with 
shouting crowds ; at night the town was illuminated and 
ablaze with fireworks and bonfires. (Parkman, A Half 



13 

Century of Conflict, 78-162, and Proceedings of Soc'y 
of Colonial Wars, 1895, 1896, N. E. His. Gen. Reg., 
25> 253-6). 

After his return from the siege of Louisburg, Joseph 
Goldthwait sent to the Governor the following petition : 

"Petition of Joseph Goldthwait, late a Captan in 
His Majesty's service at Great Cape Breton to Governor 
Phips. 'Humbly showing that his Lieut. Basil Dixwell 
in 1 745 proceeded with your petitioner and his company 
to Louisburg in the service, where he was taken sick 
and died; that your petitioner was at the charge of 
his sickness and funeral, & for messes, medicines, &c., 
expended 100 pounds old tenor of his money. That the 
said Basil Dixwell left no estate to reimburse your peti- 
tioner save the wages due him from the Province, etc' 
Asks for reimbursement from wages due." 

Granted by the House of Reps., Jan. 19, 1749. 
(Mass. His. Soc'y, 10: 121.) 

It is not quite certain whether he was in the second 
siege of Louisburg or the Crown Point expeditions. 
The name of Major, Lieut. -Col., and Col. Joseph 
Goldthwait occur in connection with sundry transac- 
tions connected with one or more of them, but as his 
son, afterwards known as Major Joseph Goldthwait, is 
known to have entered the service early enough to have 
been in the same, he has been credited with this service 
in an historical sketch on "Joseph Goldthwait, the 
Barrack-Master of Boston." Read before the Maine 
Historical Society. February 4, 1897.* 

*When that paper was written complete records were not then acces- 
sible to the writer. He is satisfied now that much of the service credited 
to Major Joseph Goldthwait, Jr., the Barrack Master, in the reduction 
of Niagara and the siege of Oswego, should have been given to his father 
Capt. Joseph Goldthwait, for it now appears that the former was not 
commissioned until 1759, when he was about twentj'-five years old, 
when his father was probablj' commissioned in Shirley's regiment in 
October, 1754, at its organization, after serving as Adjutant in Pepper- 
rell's regiment at the siege of Louisburg in 1745. 



14 

"On Sat. the 21st of Jan. last, a horse, and Bridle 
and Saddle was left by a person unknown, at Captain 
Goldthwait's stable in Back Street. The owner is 
hereby notified that if the charges of keeping said Horse 
to this time is not speedily paid, he will be sold, with 
the Saddle and Bridle to pay the same. 

"Boston, Feb. 28, 1758. Joseph Goldthwait." 
(Boston Evening Post, Monday, Mar. 13, 1758.) 

After the last Canada expedition, and peace had 
settled upon the colonies, it is evident that the old 
soldier returned to Boston, and resumed once more the 
bloodless vocation of shopkeeper, as will be seen by 
the following advertisements which appear in the 
Boston Evening Post, Boston Gazette, and also in the 
Boston Chronicle. 

The son appears as major in 1759 in the regiment from Boston, com- 
manded by Col. John Phillips; and as major January i, 1760, to January 
10, 1 761, in the roll of field and staff officers in Colonel Bagley's regiment 
at Louisburg, in which he also acted as Paymaster, for, February 28, 
1760, as is shown, money (£1,242) was sent him to pay those soldiers 
of Bagley's regiment who had continued there during the winter (Council 
Rec, p. 196). He served during the campaign of 1762 as Lieutenant- 
Colonel in Col. Richard Saltonstall's regiment — roll dated Boston, 
February 19, 1763 — in which he is called "of Roxbury." This is the 
highest rank he attained in the Provincial Army, and he was addressed 
as Colonel. 

Soon after the British troops began to be quartered in Boston, "Joseph 
Goldthwait, Jun'', Esq.," was, on nomination by Governor Bernard, 
appointed by the Council, October 5, 1768, their commissary, with the 
rank of Major, by which title he was generally known. At the out- 
break of the Revolution he was the Commissary and Barrack Master 
of the royal troops in Boston, where he passed the winter of the siege. 

It is known that Capt. Joseph Goldthwait received March 25, 1775, 
for his military service from King George III, a grant of land of 2,000 
acres called the "Goldthwait Patent," situated in Warren County, N. Y., 
near Lake George. This land lies 6 miles west of Fort George, and 
within a mile of the north branch of the Hudson River, and about 4^ miles 
of the corner of Queensbury. He is called in the Patent "Our loving 
subject — Joseph Goldthwaite, Gentleman, being a reduced subaltern 
officer, having served in North America during the late war and last 
belonging to our late fiftieth regimoU of foot." The title of the land was 
good, but heavy charges for taxes and quic rents so encumbered it 
that, about 1830, the heirs finally allowed it to pass out of their hands. 



15 

The Most Violent TOOTH-ACHE Cured in a few min- 
utes without DRAWING. 

(NO CURE, NO PAY.) 

By a Tincture, &c., &c., (long ad goes on to describe 
its virtues). This valuable tincture is prepared and 
sold in bottles at i dollar each, with particular directions 
for using it, at Captain Joseph Goldthwait's in Back 
Street, North End, Boston, by Mr. Hamilton, Surgeon 
Dentist and operator for the teeth from London, &c., &c. 
Artificial teeth set in at Two dollars a tooth, and the 
poor afflicted with the toothache cured gratis, every 
morning from 8 to lo. * * * 

(Boston Gazette, Aug. 14, 1764.) 

In the Boston Gazette, January 26, 1767, appears the 
following : 

"Imported from London, and to be sold at the House 
of Captain Joseph Goldthwait in Back Street, a little 
to the North West of Mr. Robert Gould's store in 
Boston a neat assortment of Millinery Goods, such as 
Figured and plain Gauze, yard wide Paisnet, a hand- 
some Assortment of Ribbons of the newest Fashion, the 
best of Kid and Bath Lamb Gloves and Mitts, the 
genteeiest Lady's Feathers for hats that ever was im- 
ported, Cap Wire, Tapes, Pins, the best of White Chale 
Needles, a neat assortment of Fans, Blond and Trolly 
Lace, a few pieces of India Chints and Book Muslin, 
Gauze Caps of the newest Fashion, &c. &c. All sold 
cheap for Cash." 

"Imported and to be sold at the House of Captain 
Joseph Goldthwait in Back Street, a few Millinery 
Goods, at almost Sterling cost, among them a very 
genteel assortment, &c. &c. — (Boston Gazette, Monday, 
March 20, 1769.) 

After his retirement from business, he went to Weston, 
Mass., and lived on a farm belonging to his son, Major 
Joseph G., Jr. 



i6 

In the Massachusetts archives appears the following: 

"A bond of L. 10,000. With two sureties of h. 5,000. 
each required to the Treasurer of State for the true and 
faithful performance of this order." (Mass. Arch., 
Vol. 176, pp. 15-17) 

PETITION 

Of Joseph Goldthwait of Weston in the County of 
Middlesex. 

Humbly shews: 

That his son, Joseph Goldthwait, Jr. on 
the 3d of October last, died in the City of New York 
possessed of a very considerable amount of personal 
estate, to which your petitioner is sole heir. 

That several persons have wrote to him requesting 
him to come to New York and take possession of the 
same, but being far advanced in life, and laboring under 
peculiar infirmities, is entirely unable to undertake the 
same. He therefore humbly prays your Honor would 
please grant leave for his son, Benjamin Goldthwait of 
Boston, and son-in-law, Joseph Gowen of Weston, to 
proceed to the City of New York, and there on behalf 
of your petitioner to take into possession all the effects 
belonging to him as heir to his said son, & bring them 
to your petitioner, that thereby he may receive a com- 
fortable support, for which he has always been dependent 
upon his said deceased son. 

And as in duty bound, &c. 

(Signed). Joseph Goldthwait. 
Weston, Nov. 4, 1779. 

— {Mass. Arch., 77: 548.) 

"Ordered that they be granted permission, and His 
Excellency, Gen. Washington, is requested to grant a 
pass to the said Benjamin Goldthwait and Joseph 
Gowen for the purpose aforesaid, if he should think it 
expedient; as also Miss Catharine Goldthwait, who is 
very desirous of going to her father, Thomas Goldthwait 
at New York. And it is hereby ordered and directed 



17 

that the said Katharine Goldthwait do not return into 
this State again without leave first had and obtained 
of the General Assembly of this State. 

"Attest Jno. Avery, D. Sec. 

Col. Joseph Goldthwait died the following year, 
and in the cemetery at Weston, Mass., about one and 
a half miles from the station, there are three stones, 
side by side. On a double stone is the following: 

"To the memory of Joseph Goldthwait, Esq. Obt. 
March i, 1780. ae. 72 Martha Goldthwait, Consort of 
Joseph Goldthwait, Esq. Obt. Oct. 23. 1783." 

"The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust." 

Beside this stone, is a smaller, grey one, with simply: 
"Mrs. Martha Gowen, died 1809." Beside this a still 
smaller one with : "Hannah Gowen, died May 23, 1870, 
aet. 95 years and 8 months." 

The will of Joseph Goldthwait is recorded in Foho 
518, Collins, Somerset House, London, as also a copy 
at East Cambridge, Mass. (Probate Reg.) It was 
proved in London, and administration granted to Sam- 
uel Goldthwait, November 9, 1780; but, from the fol- 
lowing advertisement, it would appear that Joseph 
Gowen was subsequently appointed administrator. 

"All persons indebted to or that have any demands 
on the estate of Joseph Goldthwait, late of Weston, Esq., 
deceased, are once more earnestly called on to make 
a Settlement with the Administrator as he is determined 
to make a final Close of the unsettled Affairs of said 
Estate, within Three Weeks from this Date, after which 
time no accounts will be received." 

Joseph Gowen, Administrator. 

"Boston, Aug. 23, 1782." 

(Boston Independent Chronicle, Sept. 5, 1782.) 



The writer is indebted to the late Miss Charlotte 
Goldthwait of Hartford, Conn., for valuable genealogi- 
cal data. 

Note. — See "A Neglected Chapter of our Colonial 
History." By James Gihson]ohnson, Harper' s Monthly 
January, 1904. 

Province of Mass. Bay. 

To his Excellency Thomas Pownall 
Esq. Governour & Commander-in- 
Chief, To the Hon''^^ his Majestys 
Council, & Hon'''^ House of Reps 
in General C assembled. 
The Petition of Joseph Goldthwait 
Humbly Shews : 

That his son Burrill Goldthwait Late belonging to 
Captain Georges Company in Col° Bagleys late Regi- 
ment employed in the year 1756, in an intended expe- 
dition against Crown Point, upon his return from said 
service was taken sick. That during his sickness the 
charges mentioned in the annexed accompte were neces- 
sarily and unavoidably expended & laid out upon him 
and inasmuch as the said Burrill during the time of 
his aforesaid sickness was in the actual service of the 
Government, 

Your Pef humbly prays that your 
Excellency & Hon""^ be pleased to 
order Payment of the monies expended 
upon the Pet" said son during his 
said sickness & Return to me agree- 
able to the annexed accompt, and is 
in Duty Bound will ever pray, &c. 
(Sgd.) Joseph Goldthwait. 

I, thie subscriber, am knowing to the truth of the 
Within Written. 

(Sgd.) JoNA^« Bagley. 
The Committee reported 6 L. O-O. Pr. Order 

Samuel Livermore. 
{Mass. Arch., yy; ^48.) 



Y 19 1913 



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